Feds Arrest 5 More Suspects in $45 Million Global Bank Heist

Photo seized from a suspect's iPhone showing approximately $800,000 in cash taken in the heist that the suspects were transporting in luggage from New York to Florida. Photo courtesy of U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York

Federal agents have arrested five more suspects in a massive bank heist that resulted in $45 million being siphoned from ATMs around the world.

A sixth suspect, Franklyn Ferreira, remains at large, according to authorities with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, where the charges were filed.

The scheme involved hacking into the computers of bank card processors to steal prepaid debit card data and erase withdrawal limits on the card accounts. The hackers passed the accounts to cashers or mules in the United States and elsewhere to siphon money from ATMs worldwide. Most of the money went to the organization’s leaders, including $800,000 stuffed into luggage to be carried by bus to Florida. The case was intended for a Miami man who fled to the Dominican Republic, where he was murdered before authorities could arrest him.

The mules photographed the cash before sending it on its way; authorities seized the photos from a suspect’s iPhone.

The gang first struck Dec. 22, 2012 when hackers targeted a credit card processor that handled transactions for prepaid MasterCard debit cards issued to customers of the National Bank of Ras Al-Khaimah PSC, or RAKBANK, in the United Arab Emirates. They passed the stolen data to cashers in 20 countries who withdrew $5 million in cash from more than 4,500 ATMs.

Last May, eight other mules were charged in New York for their roles in the same New York cell. The cell was responsible for allegedly siphoning at least $2.8 million from more than 750 Manhattan ATMs in 2.5 hours, authorities say.

The second round of the operation struck on February 19 this year, beginning around 3 p.m. and continuing until 1:30 the next morning. This attack targeted a second bank card processor that handled transactions for the Bank of Muscat in Oman. Within 10 hours, cashers in 24 countries had made about 36,000 ATM withdrawals totaling about $40 million.

The New York defendants allegedly participated in this one as well, withdrawing about $2.4 million from New York ATMs.

The stolen money was laundered and used to buy cars and other luxury goods.

Bar tab showing $4,000 in charges the suspects allegedly racked up with their ill-gotten gains. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York

Authorities say that on March 2, 2013, just days after the Bank Muscat operation, Franjul stuffed $800,000 in cash into luggage destined for Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña, who was then in Miami. Franjul’s co-conspirators transported the luggage on a bus to Florida, where they gave the cash to Lajud-Peña, who later fled to the Dominican Republic.

Lajud-Peña, 25, was shot dead inside his Dominican Republic home in April while playing dominoes with two friends, robbing authorities of the chance to bring him to justice with his alleged co-conspirators.

According to a story and photos published by DeMaoSoy, two masked men broke into the house and shot Lajud-Peña in his right side, killing him almost instantly. They wounded the two others, brothers Stuart del Rosario Duarte, 20, and Brayan del Rosario Duarte, 18, were shot in their thighs.

The robbers left behind a manila envelope stuffed with $100,000 in bills, as well as an arsenal of weapons, including an M16 rifle and a 9mm Smith Wesson pistol and a cache of ammunition. According to La Nacion Dominicana the murder was directly related to internal conflicts among the gang members over how the stolen money was divided. Lajud-Peña had just returned to the Dominican Republic from New York 14 days earlier, according to the publication.